The Literate Kitty

Some jobs just lend themselves to stereotypes.   Take librarians. Say the word, and almost everyone envisions  something .   For most people, that probably looks like an older female—matronly, with grey hair, a cardigan over her buttoned-up dress, high-Rx glasses, sensible shoes, and a stern expression. (Lots of “shushing” with this one.)   The rest go straight into fantasyland, with the “Sexy Librarian” trope—beautiful younger woman, long hair in a messy bun, buxom chest straining at the buttons of her shirt, snug pencil skirt, not-really-necessary glasses, and impractical high heels. (The secret dominatrix just waiting to get her freak on.)    So it’s like a breath of fresh air, that Sherry Thomas offers up not one, but  four , stereotype-busting librarians in her latest mystery novel,  The Librarians ... and tosses in a murder or two for them to solve, as well.     A cozy, suburban branch of the Austin, Texas public library system....

Who  doesn’t  love a great big wedding?   The idea of two people, symbolically sharing their Happily-Ever-After with those nearest-and-dearest... even for the semi-cynical amongst us, it’s hard to resist.   But make it a  celebrity  to-do—where one of them is famous (or infamous), or insanely-wealthy—and suddenly, it’s a whole different ballgame.   [Plus, zero chance most of us would merit an invitation...]   If any of us had the opportunity to attend The Wedding of the Year, we’d RSVP “Yes!”, wouldn’t we?   Especially if we had no clue, going into it, that we’d be RSVPing to the scene of a murder... as in Joan O’Leary’s  A Killer Wedding .     It’s quite a coup when Christine, a lowly staff writer for elite  Bespoke Weddings  magazine—which only covers the  most -fabulous nuptials—is singled out to cover the Wedding of the Year, the Ripton-Murphy union.    Grandmother-of-the-groom, octogenarian Gloria ...

The job market is TOUGH. So what’s a recent college grad to do, armed with a shiny degree in whatever, saddled with a mountain of debt... and finding few—if any—job prospects?   Go to work for a secretive multinational corporation dealing in “problem-solving”... essentially, a “fixer” for issues no one dares talk about, outside of hushed boardrooms?    You bet.   And then one day, make a deal with what may be an  actual  agent of Hell... all for the sake of a promotion?   I mean, sure, that's a plan.   Of course, such deals never come without a few strings... as one young man quickly discovers in Mark Waddell’s darkly-satirical take on climbing the corporate ladder,  Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World .     After several years of feeling like the lowest man on the totem pole in Dark Enterprises’ Human Resources department, earnest, cardigan-clad Colin receives the dreaded notice: he has one week to fix his latest screw-up, or f...

By now—a quarter of the way through the 21 st  century—we probably couldn’t survive without the internet.   We use it for shopping. Keeping up with friends and family. Work. Job hunting. Looking for love. And finding answers to every  “How do I fix this?”  or  “What do I do now?”  question that pops into our heads.   But it isn’t  just  a shopping mall/phone-and-snail-mail alternative/meeting place/encyclopedia.   Because while it  does  draw us together, it also allows for anonymity... a murky, shadowy space where con artists, conspiracy theorists, and bullies converge.   And sometimes, where maniacs come out to play.   Thriller author Sara Driscoll’s latest,  Shadow Play , looks at the downside of online.     When physical therapist Krista agrees to be part of a weekly, live-streaming show offering relationship and life advice with her best friend, Hailey, it sounds like a fun hobby.   After all,...

If you dug out your blender... threw in a whole bunch of  Only Murders in the Building ... added a soupçon of  Friends. .. a jigger or so of  Cheers ... and a hearty dash of Mrs. Roper (from  Three’s Company )... well, you might end up with something much like the delightful tipple that is Jo Nichols’ mystery novel,  The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective .   And if you did? Oh my, how sweet it would taste, going down...     The elderly, caftan-wearing “Mrs. B” is the proud owner and landlady of a grouping of seven quaint cottages (one of which being her own domicile), in beautiful Santa Barbara, California. The cottages are a blast from the past—tiny, grouped intimately around a miniature courtyard—and constantly fighting off “progress”, in the form of fancy new multi-occupant buildings (the likes of which encroach upon all sides).    Being just a short walk from the Pacific Ocean, though, means these little homes are veritable go...

That sisterly—or sibling—bond is something I, an only child, will never know.   But wow, have I wondered about it, over the years.   What would it be like, to grow up with other people my own age?   To share secrets and rivalries. To bicker... but probably also (at least sometimes), to have each other’s backs.    But take that a few steps further, and imagine how it would feel to have a sibling—a  twin , no less—of whom you’d never been  aware...  until you’d already lived more than three decades?   And then, after learning that truth... you only reached out—to that previously-unknown person you’d once shared a womb with— after  you’d been accused of murder?   Bestselling thriller author Sarah Pekkanen takes a stab at how such a scenario might play out with her latest,  The Locked Ward .     For some reason, most of us don’t expect the uber-rich to have Big Problems. (As though obscene sums of money should be the...

There’s something that feels really...   squicky , about leaving a negative review. Regardless of what the something being reviewed   is , any unflattering remarks reflect poorly on someone’s service, skills, manners, or—in the case of a book—their art... and that’s a hard thing to do (let alone, be the recipient of).   Nonetheless, a not-so-great review has a purpose. It’s essentially a warning sign, letting others know to proceed with caution (and why).   So consider this, at best, a triangular yellow yield sign... to stop, and look both ways, before proceeding with Hazell Ward’s  The Game is Murder .     From the synopsis, it sounded like a slam dunk.  There were comparisons to Netflix’s  Glass Onion  and Agatha Christie. The promise of “razor-sharp twists” and “sly misdirection”. It’s also a period piece—set in the 1970s—which, in theory, put a cool, interesting spin on things.   And, perhaps the most enticing, was the novelty o...

There’s a plot device sometimes used in mystery novels, known as the “unreliable narrator”... which means what the storyteller says may --or may not —be true.   Usually, this unreliable person is one main character.   But imagine being faced with no fewer than  six  such potentially-unreliable sources?    How would you know who— if anyone —to believe... and who was absolutely  not  to be trusted?   Welcome to author Alex Pavesi’s intricately-twisted tale,  Ink Ribbon Red , where absolutely  everything  anyone says is suspect.     There are a few different ways people approach “milestone” birthdays (the ones ending in zeroes).   Some treat such birthdays like harbingers of apocalyptic proportions, best avoided (or at least, strenuously denied). For others, those “big birthdays” are a great excuse for a massive shindig. And for some, such birthdays are no different than any of the others which have already come and...